It's a bit hard to believe that God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise is the fourth album from the soulful singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne. It doesn’t seem so far off from when many of us first stopped us in our tracks upon hearing the song “Trouble” from his debut album. But over the course of his career, Ray has captivated audiences with an emotionally driven songbook, a voice that summons goose bumps and a fascinating aversion to the spotlight he so requires.

Again, on God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise, that unmistakable voice is front and center. Yet the first obvious difference on this record is that Ray LaMontagne shares the billing with his band, The Pariah Dogs. And he seems to find comfort in doing so. While there still are those intimate moments where Ray is isolated to just vocals and a guitar the album soars to new levels with full robust arrangements on songs like the country-tinged “Old Before Your Time” or the album curtain-call “Devil’s In The Jukebox.” And on the opener, “Repo Man,” The Pariah Dogs build a gutsy blues groove before Ray arrives with one of his most confident vocal performances.

The other difference, perhaps not as obvious but nonetheless notable, is that God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise was produced by Ray himself. This marks the first album without the help of producer Ethan Johns and Ray’s first solo attempt behind the board. The vision is clear on this new album and results are a testament to a musician who seems truly in control of his artistry.

When you become a member of the CD of the Month Club, you'll receive all twelve of the CD of the Month selections during the year along with all of our special XPN releases -- including Live at the World Cafe CDs and XPN New Music Samplers. That's at least 16 CDs total! Recent months include CDs by Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, John Prine, The Hold Steady, Dawes, and more. You'll also receive an invitation for two to attend one Culture Club event. Join now!

Mark Ronson is a London-born, New York City-raised artist, producer and DJ. His new album Version is - true to its title - a collection of versions of other artists' tunes. This is, of course, an oft-used idea, but few can match the ideas, personnel, and deft production touch that Ronson possesses.

There are lots of standout tracks on Version, not the least of which is "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before", a Smiths cover sung by Australian Daniel Merriweather, that has already become a big hit in the U.K. Elsewhere, Ronson takes on tunes by Coldplay (an instrumental version of "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face"), Radiohead ("Just" - done with the help of Phantom Planet), The Jam's "Pretty Green" (featuring some tasty vocals by Philly's own Santo Gold), and a couple of cameos by a couple of women whose careers have exploded of late - Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. The guy's obviously got great taste, is well-connected and respected, and certainly knows how to get the most out of each performance. The whole album's really a sonic treat.

Whether or not Ray LaMontagne will become this generation's Van Morrison is something that's yet to be determined, but you'll be hard-pressed to find another singer who combines light and dark, power and subtlety as well as this New Hampshire native. His second album - Till The Sun Turns Black - is another well thought-out, well delivered set of music.

It's "that voice" that got Ray the considerable attention he recieved for his debut album, and the talent is once again on fine display here. Starting with the somber, dirge-y opening track "Be Here Now" (only an artist with a fair amount of moxie would open his sophomore album with a song like this, by the way), through the downright soulful "Three More Days" and bluesy "You Can Bring Me Flowers", Lamontagne has proven that he's not exactly a one trick pony. That being said, fans of the crooner Ray will find plenty to enjoy here on songs like like "Lesson Learned" and "Empty".

The songwriting is once again top notch, and "that voice" is still very much intact. Till The Sun Turns Black will most certainly satisfy existing Lamontagne fans and should attract some new ones. It's going to be interesting to watch this talented performer's trajectory in the future.

One of XPN’s Artists To Watch for 2004, singer-songwriter, Ray Lamontagne explains how Stephen Stills saved his life. One of six children raised by a single mom who worked hard to make ends meet, Lamontagne – who barely made it out of high school left his family for Lewiston, Maine. Bored, going nowhere in his life and doing some serious soul searching Ray was in Lewiston working long hard hours in a shoe factory when he experienced a musical epiphany.

He explains: "This was a particularly dark and weird time for me. I never saw the light of day for months. One morning, after I'd worked there for about a year, I had my clock set for 4 a.m., like always, and I woke up to this amazing sound coming from the clock radio. It was Stephen Stills, doing a song called 'Tree Top Flyer.' I just sat up in bed and listened. Something about that song just hit me. I did not go to work that day; I went to record stores and sought that album out. It was called Stills Alone. I listened to it, and I was transformed. You don't know how those things happen. I just knew: 'This is what I'm gonna do.' That morning really changed everything — my whole life.”

"So I quit my job. I knew I wanted to sing, which was really crazy, because I never even talked to anybody. I just had this feeling that it was somewhere inside me, and I had to find it and let it out. So I learned the songs on that record and started listening to Crosby, Stills & Nash, then I discovered Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Ray Charles, Otis Redding. I would spend hours just listening to records. Later, I got very intense about singing; I would just sing and sing, and hurt and hurt, because I knew I wasn't doing it right. Over a period of years I taught myself to sing from the gut and not from the nose."

In the summer of 1999, LaMontagne recorded his first demo — a collection of 10 songs. "It was the first time I'd ever heard myself sing," he says. "I hadn't performed. There was a little theater in town that would bring in folk acts. I brought my tape down to the owner and he loved it. He started getting me in opening for people like Jonathan Edwards, John Gorka — traveling folkies. It was hard for me at first, but I'm a really fast learner. By the third or fourth show, I was fine."

Those ten demos ultimately led to Ray’s being signed to a publishing deal. An album was made with producer Ethan Johns before Ray even had a record deal. But the music wouldn’t go unheard before long and soon, record company executives were lining up around the block to sign Ray.

Trouble is about as honest and organic a record you’ll hear these days. Recorded in two weeks, the album features Ray on guitar and vocals and Ethan on bass, drums and piano. Johns also wrote the strings, recorded them and then mixed the record. Like Norah Jones, Ray Lamontagne channels old soul wisdom and has a voice that elicits a beautiful, haunting and otherworldly response from the listener. These are songs of longing, love and desperation. By the end of this excellent collection of ten songs, an spiritual optimism unfolds and you’re hooked on Ray’s singular talents.

In early 2002 WXPN listeners and members got their first taste of the sounds and music of Citizen Cope on his self-titled debut record on the Dreamworks label. Fusing soulful, down-home grooves with pop sensibilities, Cope’s record quickly found a home on 88.5 and developed a nice following in our listening areas. Cope’s debut was smart, intelligent, high quality music for an integrated world. Not afraid to take on weighty, social, cultural and political issues in his lyrics, he’s both a realist and an optimist. Songs like “If There’s Love,” “Let The Drummer Kick It,” “Mistaken Identity,” and “Contact” quickly became staples on the radio dial at XPN, as did Cope’s collaboration with Santana on the song “Sideways” from Santana’s Shaman album.

Drawing on R&B and hip-hop, Cope also draws inspiration from various styles of roots music including blues, folk and reggae. It may seem like a long two years for Cope, born Clarence Greenwood, however his new album is finally seeing the light of day. Like many artists, Cope fell victim to record company consolidations and music business politics only to surface on a new label, RCA records, with a stellar supporting studio musician cast that includes Carlos Santana, Me’shell Ndegeocello, and James Poyser on keyboards.

Recordings has a similar vibe as his debut, however it reveals a more mature sense of musicianship and songwriting. Cope reprises “Sideways,” plus new tunes like the powerful “Bullet and A Target,” “Sons Gonna Rise,” “Hurricane Waters,” “Nite Becomes Day,” and “Pablo Picasso” will have you returning back to this massive collection for repeated listenings.

Kings of Leon were propelled to stardom with the release of their 2008 Grammy nominated album Only By The Night. Their 5th studio album Come Around Sundown, another collection of undeniable rock anthems, comes almost exactly two years after and does little to lessen the argument that the Followill family currently reign as the biggest rock band in America.

Since the release of their last album, Kings of Leon have embraced their success continuing to tour for what seems non-stop over the last two years. In fact, it’s wondrous how they had time to make a record somewhere over that course. Nonetheless, the songs of Come Around Sundown brim with confidence and a sonic landscape that is as varied as it is unique to this band. Frontman Caleb Followill’s growly vocals have become a modern day rock trademark as is evidence on the soaring first single “Radioactive.” And whether the rock landscape shifts to more subdued moments like the aptly titled “Back Down South” the Tennessee born Kings leader sounds right at home.

In many ways the songs of Come Around Sundown pick up right where the last record left off. Aside from the unmistakable vocals, the guitars on this collection again power the record. Matt Followill delivers an almost Edge-like riff on the stadium ready song “The Immortals” and proves his own versatility painting a perfect coastline picture on the summery “Beach Side.” In a day where rock doesn’t dominate the mainstream as it has in the past, Kings of Leon have no problem shouldering the load with Come Around Sundown.

It's a bit hard to believe that God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise is the fourth album from the soulful singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne. It doesn’t seem so far off from when many of us first stopped us in our tracks upon hearing the song “Trouble” from his debut album. But over the course of his career, Ray has captivated audiences with an emotionally driven songbook, a voice that summons goose bumps and a fascinating aversion to the spotlight he so requires.

Again, on God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise, that unmistakable voice is front and center. Yet the first obvious difference on this record is that Ray LaMontagne shares the billing with his band, The Pariah Dogs. And he seems to find comfort in doing so. While there still are those intimate moments where Ray is isolated to just vocals and a guitar the album soars to new levels with full robust arrangements on songs like the country-tinged “Old Before Your Time” or the album curtain-call “Devil’s In The Jukebox.” And on the opener, “Repo Man,” The Pariah Dogs build a gutsy blues groove before Ray arrives with one of his most confident vocal performances.

The other difference, perhaps not as obvious but nonetheless notable, is that God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise was produced by Ray himself. This marks the first album without the help of producer Ethan Johns and Ray’s first solo attempt behind the board. The vision is clear on this new album and results are a testament to a musician who seems truly in control of his artistry.

When you become a member of the CD of the Month Club, you'll receive all twelve of the CD of the Month selections during the year along with all of our special XPN releases -- including Live at the World Cafe CDs and XPN New Music Samplers. That's at least 16 CDs total! Recent months include CDs by Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, John Prine, The Hold Steady, Dawes, and more. You'll also receive an invitation for two to attend one Culture Club event. Join now!

Mark Ronson is a London-born, New York City-raised artist, producer and DJ. His new album Version is - true to its title - a collection of versions of other artists' tunes. This is, of course, an oft-used idea, but few can match the ideas, personnel, and deft production touch that Ronson possesses.

There are lots of standout tracks on Version, not the least of which is "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before", a Smiths cover sung by Australian Daniel Merriweather, that has already become a big hit in the U.K. Elsewhere, Ronson takes on tunes by Coldplay (an instrumental version of "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face"), Radiohead ("Just" - done with the help of Phantom Planet), The Jam's "Pretty Green" (featuring some tasty vocals by Philly's own Santo Gold), and a couple of cameos by a couple of women whose careers have exploded of late - Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. The guy's obviously got great taste, is well-connected and respected, and certainly knows how to get the most out of each performance. The whole album's really a sonic treat.

XPN favorite Clarence Greenwood - a.k.a. Citizen Cope - has always been incredibly adept at combining groove and message, and on Every Waking Moment, that talent is once again on display.

Cope's distinctive vocal style is always convincing, and he's an expert at melding muted hip-hop beats with engaging melodies like on "Friendly Fire" and "All Dressed Up". The overall feel this time around is much more mid-tempo, but that doesn't stop Every Waking Moment from being just as immediate as its' predecessors. There's some absolutely lovely tunes here, most notably "More Than It Seems" and the lamenting "John Lennon." He even leaves us with a great instrumental track on this album, a '70's throwback called "Awe".

Here's a guy who manages to sound like no one else, but who retains enough of the familiar to catch you on the first listen. More importantly, Cope takes a good look in the mirror and ouside his window to the world on Every Waking Moment.

Whether or not Ray LaMontagne will become this generation's Van Morrison is something that's yet to be determined, but you'll be hard-pressed to find another singer who combines light and dark, power and subtlety as well as this New Hampshire native. His second album - Till The Sun Turns Black - is another well thought-out, well delivered set of music.

It's "that voice" that got Ray the considerable attention he recieved for his debut album, and the talent is once again on fine display here. Starting with the somber, dirge-y opening track "Be Here Now" (only an artist with a fair amount of moxie would open his sophomore album with a song like this, by the way), through the downright soulful "Three More Days" and bluesy "You Can Bring Me Flowers", Lamontagne has proven that he's not exactly a one trick pony. That being said, fans of the crooner Ray will find plenty to enjoy here on songs like like "Lesson Learned" and "Empty".

The songwriting is once again top notch, and "that voice" is still very much intact. Till The Sun Turns Black will most certainly satisfy existing Lamontagne fans and should attract some new ones. It's going to be interesting to watch this talented performer's trajectory in the future.